State charges included kidnapping, first-degree burglary and false imprisonment of husband of Nancy Pelosi

The man who was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for attacking the husband of Nancy Pelosi with a hammer in their California home was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole following a separate state trial.

A San Francisco jury in June found David DePape guilty of charges including aggravated kidnapping, first-degree burglary and false imprisonment of an elder.

Before issuing the sentence, Judge Harry Dorfman dismissed arguments from DePape’s attorneys that he be granted a new trial for the 2022 attack against Paul Pelosi, who was 82 years old at the time.

“It’s my intention that Mr DePape will never get out of prison, he can never be paroled,” Dorfman said while handing out the punishment.

  • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    I dont want to armchair assess too much, but reading a statement that involves your psychic powers, assuming that’s real, the guy is not mentally fit.

    • TallonMetroid@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      I agree that the man is clearly off his rocker, but from a legal perspective, what matters is whether or not you understand that you have, in fact, killed a dude, and that this is in fact a bad thing. Having voices in your head telling you to do it is a completely separate issue. Again, this is my understanding as a layman, so any actual lawyers please feel free to tell me I’m full of shit.

      • GladiusB@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        Probably if he ever sought help. He was married at one point. Did it come up in the divorce? All these things can be a factor from my understanding.

    • stoly@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      You have to be completely divorced from reality and really have no idea what you’re doing. This guy is a kook but knew that hitting old people with hammers is bad.